Ed. note: On February 10, 2011, Scott and Mary Flanders, on board their Nordhavn 46, Egret, arrived in the Canary Islands. In doing so, Egret became the eighth Nordhavn to circumnavigate the globe. It had been four years, five months since the couple departed Gran Canaria, intent on seeing as much of the earth as possible, although not necessarily with an end goal to circle the globe. Voyage of Egret documents the Flanders’ entire trip, an endless adventure that has put them in touch with the most fabulous places and interesting people. Much route planning and forecasting was required in order to get to some of their ports of call. But the days of detailed planning are over…for now. “Egret” is now back in Fort Lauderdale, the place the couple called home for so many years, and, ironically, the starting point of their world wide cruising escapade that began with the Nordhavn Atlantic Rally in 2004. They currently travel hither and yon, sometimes by boat, sometimes not. Here, the latest update from the Flanders as they keep us continually apprised.

November 14, 2011
Location: Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Hello mis amigos, well, the Ft Lauderdale International Boat Show was great as usual. This photo is a photo from the boat show brochure taken last year. It was home coming for Mary and I. We know a number of vendors and it was fun to see them again. We went to the show for most of opening day and the mood was upbeat. The market is the strongest for some time and everyone hoped the pent up demand would pop and orders would flow. So far we haven't heard. One thing that is difficult for me standing on the outside looking in at the indecision of The Chokesters. If a boat purchase is just another bauble it is understandable why folks are holding back. Baubles don't have much long term personal value other than the pleasure spike when their new toy arrives then the pleasure diminishes somewhat quickly as time goes by. However, buying an ocean capable boat or serious coastal cruiser (power or sail) and taking the time to spend much of the year aboard is not a bauble but an entire lifestyle change and a commitment to an easier and more adventurous life. Knowing what we know and beating this drum for so long I am genuinely surprised more don't join this small group of independent minded adventurers.

However, Mary and I received inspiration from two folks on the same day. One was from a young man living in Norway that has been following VofE for some time. He and his wife have a financial plan that will give them independence at a young age and they plan to follow others as full time live aboards. Ian came to the show with his father and gave Mary and I a copy of a Svalbard - Spitsbergen* (Norway) table top book. The photography was Very good and the script makes us want to go there even more. More than a year ago we planned to travel to Svalbard during Egret's second year in Norway and perhaps even try to gather a small group of capable powerboats to make the trip at the same time. Of course you see how plans change. Ian is very determined and we are sure in time they will join the fleet.

*Svalbard is the archipelago of islands and Spitsbergen is the largest island. Most including ourselves call the archipelago Spitzbergen, however that is not correct (we just learned). Svalbardur (Svalbard) in 13th century Icelandic meant "the cold coasts (or edges)". The northern portion of Svalbard is above 80 degrees north - 600nm from the true north pole.

The same day we received an e-mail from an enthusiastic couple who sold their Stuff, bought a trawler and have headed out to live The Life. This paragraph is a direct quote from these lucky ducks. (Guess who made their own luck?)

"You and Mary have both been a great inspiration to Lavinia and I and I would like to thank you for all the writings, information and `prodding' that you have delivered over the years. The strange thing is that now we have completed the selling of our large family home and all the furniture etc. we feel refreshed and `free'. The trepidation, especially from Lavinia, that we experienced preceding the disposal exercise we now realize was unnecessary. Now, being free of the dirt dwelling life style, we have grown and take deep breaths not because of any anxiety or stress but because we are out of breath from some fun activity, isn't life great. It is our time…

We will be cruising in 2012 and who knows, it is a small world, and I hope that our paths do cross."

(Egret. It's not just us mis amigos. And its not just these lucky ducks.)

We bought another boat at the show. We have been talking about it for some time and Did The Deal. We aren't afraid like The Chokesters. AND we practice what we preach. If you remember we left the CIB - Catamaran Ice Breaker dinghy in North Carolina with my former business partner so his young girls (4 - 7) could have mom and dad take them boating on the Pamlico River. The CIB was perfect for what we used it for at the time but it did have a downside. It weighed a bit north of 400lbs - 182kg as well as tons of windage because of the high sides. Our plans for the next year don't have any special destination but it will be an easy year spending the spring in the Bahamas then will be coastal cruisers/Intracoastal weenies during summer and fall with stops who knows where. The following year we plan something a bit different and don't want the weight or windage. Getting to the bottom line we bought a 10AL AB Inflatable dinghy (aluminum bottom). It is 10.5' overall - 3/28m, 5' 5" wide - 1.69m, and weighs 117lbs - 53kg. The only option we got is adding an enclosed front locker that will hold a 6 gallon - 23ltr fuel tank (Later we found out a 6 gallon tank does not fit. A 3 gallon tank fits well with extra space but in the end we will use it for storage only and will have a tank on deck. The deck is wide enough at that point to have foot room on both sides of the tank). Once it is set up I'll show a photo and explain it in more detail. The other thing we'll pass along before I forget is the pricing. AB usually sells at list price year around. At list price it is still a VERY good value for the money and we would have paid the price. The quality is there and it shows. However, at the boat show we got a 10% discount and because my buddy with a N46 bought one as well we got an additional 5%. Cool, eh?

(AB has no knowledge we are writing this. We have no association with, talked to or met any of the AB folks prior to the show.)

We need a larger dinghy for down the road to carry more weight. We will still keep the 9' - 2.8m aluminum bottom dinghy with the 3hp Yamadog. The 8hp Yamadog will go on the new dink although I would prefer a 15hp Yamadog like my buddy has. All 2 strokes of course. Mary and I will still use the smaller dink most of the time because it is smaller and lighter. Even though the new dink is but 1.5' longer than the 9' dink, it is probably 30% larger. Its sorta like the difference between a N46 and a N47.

We were at the boat show 3 different days. The third day we went to Do The Deal on the inflatable with my buddy. On the way we stopped by the West Marine booth to check on his 40kg Rocna anchor. There was a batch of Rocna's that were made with different metal than specified and my buddy wanted to make sure his was not part of that batch. An employee in the West booth said "why don't you go see Mr Rocna? So off we went to give this guy a shot. Well guess what? It was Mr Rocna, Kiwi Pete Smith. Mary and I met Pete in Puerto Montt, Chile as Egret was preparing to cross the Pacific and Pete had just arrived in Chile on Kiwi Roa, his take no prisoners aluminum ketch. Pete sailed directly from New Zealand and got killerated. They didn't have wind so Pete kept heading south to pick up the westerlies and when he finally did at 50 degrees S. it was Armageddon. Pete did go south and spent quite a bit of time in Patagonia then over to South Georgia Island and currently Kiwi Roa is in the Falklands. In the Small World department, Pete was carrying a large Rocna to deliver it to the American sailboat Hawk in Ushuaia, Argentina. We met Beth and Evans from Hawk in Caleta Ideal (Chile) as they were heading south and Egret north. Hawk is back in the U.S. and we tried to hook up as Egret headed south this summer. Hawk was ahead and we never did but is really is a Small World isn't it?

(Rocna manufacturing licensing has been moved to a Canadian group)

Today was a good day. This morning Auntie Suzy was over for breakfast. Of course you remember Dickiedoo from Nelson, New Zealand. D Doo has many, many days and sea miles aboard Egret so we know him well and he is a good guy to the core. You know all about D Doo from VofE so we'll tell you a bit about Auntie Suzie. Auntie Suzie was married to Uncle Pat, Mary's brother who left us early. So, the wheels have been turning. OK, lets get to the Bottom Line. We have been pimping for both, so D Doo and Suzie have been e-mailing and after MS and I arrive in New Zealand mid December, Suzie is flying over to meet D Doo. We four are thrilled and I think this will end up making two deserving folks very happy.

This photo isn't about Rum Night with mind and sight altering liquids but a simple reflection taken the morning Auntie Suzie arrived. Check out the twisted palm tree.

After Auntie Suzie left we helped my buddy Kal rebuild his generator raw water pump. His spares are aboard (N46) Anita Cay up in Stuart so we used Egret's spares and cheat sheet. This is how we do it and have done this twice before with other owners. I don't rebuild the pump. I tell them step by step from My cheat sheet, they do each step, Then write what they did in their words step by step. In addition, Kal used his cell phone camera to record the steps as well. In the end we did the final test by holding the inlet and outlet ports closed - as well as the cam screw hole - and filled the impeller cavity with water. No leaks. Well done the first time and this pump will run for years on this seal. We changed Egret's leaking ceramic seal at 425 generator hours and it ran for the next 3500+ hours with no more maintenance than impeller changes. It did finally leak a second time, we changed the seals again and it has been perfect since. Egret's new spare pump (With Gear) is still in the box and has never been used.

The next days are filled with boat projects and as they unfold we'll pass them along. More to follow.

Tues. Busy day. First to arrive was General Fabrics - Ft Lauderdale 954 522-5253. We used General Fabrics for everything in canvas, forever. This 3d generation company is very good with worth-it pricing. They cut off Egret's top covering and are going to replace it with a wide mesh fabric used in outdoor lawn furniture. It lasts for years and will filter about 75% of the sun and will allow wind to blow thru and act less like a sail in headwinds or heavy beam winds. After installation we'll add a photo. Second to arrive was the Boat Blinds & Shades crew - 954 739-9939 - www.MyBoatBlindsAndShades.com We put their blinds in Egret 10 years ago and they are still in good condition except the strings rotted and I made a boat guy deal using pulleys and cam cleats that work. MS wanted the strings back so they came today to restring and clean the blinds. And the third to arrive was Arnie from Beard Marine - Air Conditioning and watermaker specialists. 954 463-2288. Beard Marine has been a Ft Lauderdale institution for years and I know the owner personally. So we called Beard Marine when the forward A/C quit playing. It turned out to just be a simple control panel replacement. No biggie. Arnie is a good guy and we chatted for a bit about his native Portugal.

Later we picked up the two AB Inflatables, Egret's and Anita Cay's. They were deflated, boxed in cardboard and shrink wrapped. We loaded them into my buddy's flats boat and carefully drove them back to his house. It was a wibble wobble deal so I really strapped them tight and we made it with no issues. More on that to follow.

South Florida and particularly Ft Lauderdale is one of the best places in the world for a major refit. All the services are here and the expertise. The other thing that makes FLL such a great place to refit is the availability of parts. All of the major engine companies are represented in FLL as well as almost everyone who is anyone. Large marine distributors give the yards between 2 and 3 deliveries a day with a small percentage of back orders and most of those can be substituted. To keep a refit or any project moving forward this is priceless. For smaller boats like Egret and a bit larger, New Zealand is also a great place to refit with excellent labor skills, good parts available and more reasonable labor rates. We practice what we preach. Between New Zealand and Ft Lauderdale before leaving in 2004 and again now, probably 90% of Egret's maintenance expenditures and parts purchases have been in these two places.

Has the Egret crew been busy or what? Ten years of minimal work has ended. We are doing every project that needs doing. As we mentioned above, FLL is the place to do it. We got both dinghies put together with lifting straps, towing bridles and so on. Egret's was done first and today we got N46 Anita Cay's on her boat deck. Anita Cay has a small (14') Hell's Bay flats boat on the stbd side and the inflatable on the port. Egret's little 9' aluminum bottom dinghy is on the port side and the larger AB Inflatable aluminum bottom is on the stbd. The AB is like a limo compared to the 9' dink. The 9' is better in high latitudes where you have to drag the dink way up the beach or in tight areas but the 10.5' is better for rough water, carrying more people and longer distance dinghy exploring. For a single all around tender the 10.5' is better for most folks. In the first picture you can see how Kal from Anita Cay modified the stern rail to mount the flats boat fore and aft. It can be put back with no fuss if he wants to remove the flats boat. The second picture is of Egret's two inflatable arrangement. The third is two Way Cool saltshakers rafted off each other. Can you see two Egret's in this picture? I'll give you a hint, the second Egret is an Egret flats boat on a lift in front of Anita Cay.

Another of today's projects was a 20 minute deal that took a LOT longer. This was changing two hoses on the Happy Little Lugger that go from the oil filter to the front of the engine. Lugger engineers most of the core engine's hoses to be replaced by castings that live forever and work without failure. This and super service are the reasons to buy a Lugger vs the core block manufacturer. Bottom line with Lugger. It costs more but when you are 1000nm from shore the few peso's you may have saved doesn't seem so important. Anyway, these two hoses have industrial fittings that Do Not Leak. The original Parker hoses failed at about 2000 engine hours and within 20 hours of each other. (The hose failed, not the fittings) Before the Nordhavn Atlantic Rally all the N46 participants and perhaps the lone 47 participant changed (courtesy of Lugger) the hoses to Aeroquipt. Egret's lasted for the next 9,000 engine hours then developed a slight leak at start up. When the oil warmed and the fittings heated up the leak quit. So we had two more hoses made but had them made 1 1/2" longer because the original length was Very difficult with the heavier Aeroquipt hose to get the nut started. Along with the hoses you MUST replace the O-rings in the face of the male fittings - on the engine. This took a bit to get the now hard O'rings removed. We did this with a sharp pick tool and a tiny screwdriver. Here is the female end of the replacement hose and O-ring. This next photo shows the installation. The small black hose next to the two blue ones is a Naiad high pressure hose and the fat black hose is the Naiad hose from the bottom of the cooling tower. Check out the small reminder which way to turn the oil filter to remove it. I'm not proud and it works every time.

This is IMPORTANT. If you have one of these hoses leak at sea, DO NOT attempt to change the hoses under way. Put a small tub under the leaking fitting and measure the leak. It will be minimal and you most likely won't even have to add oil. To attempt a hose change at sea, particularly if you are rolling a bit would be VERY difficult plus everything would be super hot so removing and replacing the O-rings would be near impossible. (Make sure you read this paragraph well. Understand Egret went 9,000 hours without a leak with new Aeroquipt hoses. Not to worry.) And one more related item. The hose fittings require a 28mm open end wrench. The main motor mounts are also 28mm. Both applications are tight for a large adjustable wrench, so............
More projects to follow.

Egret's plans have changed once again. Because of boat projects we had to abandon our plans for a Florida Keys fishing trip. It is something we looked forward to for a long time but Egret comes first. Another plan that changed is Egret will now winter in Ft Lauderdale instead of Stuart, Florida. One of the tradesman's mother in law has a home on the water not far from our buddy's house. She usually rents her dock during the winter season but to people she knows. Her son in law gave Egret high marks and we went over to introduce ourselves. She was OK after we met her then we sent her to the N.com - VofE site and we are IN. We paid up front until the spring and will move over to this dock in a little over a week. This is perfect for us because we know so many folks in FLL and can even walk to the supermarket. (Actually we have a loaner car but will still walk most of the time)

Long term VofE readers will remember Eric from the South Pacific (VofE - July, August, 2008). Eric and my nephew Mark joined Mary and I in Papeete, Tahiti and crewed with Egret to American Samoa where they flew home. When Eric got back he made this ceramic N46 in school. Mary and I saw it today for the first time. (Eric is our buddy's son from Anita Cay*) It this cool or what? The South Pacific trip also helped give Eric direction** for his future. Eric is now in second year Ocean Engineering at Cornell University. Cool, eh?

*Did you notice there is no sparkly glitter coat on Anita Cay? No girl boat here.

**Have you given thought to how you could change your children's or grand children's future by having them spend time at sea? Eric and Mark stood their watch and it was THEIR responsibility for Egret and her safety during their watch. It is not uncommon to have 12 year old experienced Boat Kids with that full responsibility. Boat Kid's time together is so precious in anchorages they cut the nonsense that boring routine brings. And there is no mall crawling at sea and no peer pressure and so on. Boat Kids have no time for anything but getting along. Even the little kids are included and there are no bullies. Give it some thought.

A couple days later. OK, its time to talk about N46s. Egret has been rafted this week to the last N46 built, Anita Cay, 46-82 built in 2003. A/C is as new and has upgrades even Egret - 46-74 - does not have. Yesterday a broker brought a Canadian couple by to see A/C and Egret as examples of N46s. (Neither are for sale at any price) This couple retired some years ago, bought a sailboat and sailed to the Caribbean and back. It wasn't Time. He couldn't give up work so they went back to work with a 6 year plan that stretched to 7. They are VofE followers so know something about 46's. They are looking at brokerage N's from N40 - N47. Plans are to travel the U.S. east coast, perhaps back to the Caribbean then cross to the Med as full time liveaboards. They couldn't believe the condition of the two 46's. Of course we felt it our duty to objectively give our opinion of the group of boats they are considering. All are good boats and would meet their goals. However, he confided he simply likes the looks of the N46. (Of course we can't argue.) So this brings us to the point of this opinion. I believe the N46 at this stage in her life will only go up in value unless it is mistreated, the same as any boat, home or car, etc. We also discussed the advice I gave my buddy who bought A/C; buy her at almost any price because there aren't any more being made and to bring a lesser boat to this condition would cost even more. Amortize the extra cost you think you should pay (you as a layman*) over the years you think you will own her and it is chump change compared to the Big Picture.

So now I'm even going to take this analogy a step further. I believe the time has come if this couple or anyone who needs a N46 finds a super clean brokerage 46 that is a paravane only boat, it pays to upgrade to active stabilizers - Naiad or Trac - if their budget allows and they plan extensive offshore cruising. I mentioned this to the couple and they already knew how much it cost ($45k in their research) so you can tell they are doing their due diligence and are truly interested. I believe this is money well spent and again in the Big Picture makes life a little simpler with active stabilization.

I was going to write something about this couple visiting anyway but this morning while MS was fixing breakfast I pulled out a stack of Seven Seas Cruising Association bulletins to read any interesting articles. The first bulletin was September, 2011. On page 18 is an article from N46 Emily Grace, Offshore Islands of New Zealand. This was a well written article and in the back was a link to Emily Grace's blog - http://mvemilygrace.blogspot.com So I fired up the internet and checked it out to see what was whipping. You NEED to add this blog to stoke your inspirational and educational fires. This is a well written blog loaded with photo's about a couple traveling long distance with dad Tom, Admiral Kim and 11 year old Boat Kid - Emily. The posting starts off with these words; "Those that dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds, wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous folks for they act upon their dreams with open eyes, to make it possible." Emily Grace left the U.S. east coast in 2008 and have been traveling since. Currently Emily Grace is in.................. (you have to see for yourself) Oh ho hum, another N46 shaking salt in the far corners of the world. Oh ho hummer, another long distance cruiser with a home schooled Boat Kid getting life experiences you can't buy over the internet or at the mall. Priceless. So what are you doing today?

*We met the owner of a long distance looking trawler in XXXX. This owner made two previous offer's on N's with lowball numbers. Of course both N owners declined. Then he found a new build boat that had been unsold for more than 2 years. Of course there were reasons I won't go in to, keeping this as vague as possible. The boat is for sale and guess what? Yup, the owner is gonna get killed on the back end. So in the end it appeared the more important thing to this person was The Deal and not The Boat because as a lay person he felt this boat was the Real Deal at a great priced despite the lack of pedigree. It wasn't. This will be an expensive lesson to learn When it sells.

Back to projects. While doing an engine room check somewhere up north we noticed oil in the bilge. While under way I crawled around to see if the oil was coming from the main and it was not. If it were coming from the main it would be first trapped in the pan under the engine. This pan was clean. So after we shut down and everything cooled I went on oil patrol. I couldn't find the leak but checked the generator oil level and it was half full. Yikes!!! There was no oil under the engine so the only other place would be from the oil line to remove and fill the oil thru the oil change pump. Yup, the hose was split at the oil change pump fitting. So I cut the hose and reattached it temporarily. I was sure the hose was el cheapo automotive heater hose that was installed during commissioning. I bought type A fuel hose to replace it (the best). It was a tedious job threading the old hose under the deck plates, cutting the ty wraps that held it in place and so on. The trick was to Cut the hose off the fitting at the generator, wipe it clean and duct tape it closed so it wouldn't leak. Same with the other end. Then cut the small remaining piece off the hose barb. We spilled Zero oil. We worked back to front removing the old hose and threading the new. I ordered 12' - 3.75m and there was just 6" extra. Of course you have to drain the oil first and after refilling the gen with the usual amount it was still quite a bit down on the dip stick after running it checking for leaks. The extra oil went into the line. The hose I took out was Type A fuel hose, exactly what I chose to replace it with so I guess I can't rag on PAE for el cheapo hose.

One nice thing about projects like this is I took my time and cleaned everything above and under the deck plates. I did this over 2 days so I didn't kill myself or my back and now everything is brandy new and super clean. I keep up to 3 pails of engine oil on the stbd side space next to the engine. Under one deck plate are zincs stored in a heavy duty mesh bag. We replenished Egret's zinc supply this past week and she now has 7 years worth of zincs including keel cooler zincs that arrived the other day. So we won't have to worry about that for a bit. Every boat is a compromise including N46s. Every other N has a stand up - walk around engine room, the dogs. To keep N46's profile low the engine room is a crawl around deal. Except after owning a 46 for a bit we Do Not Crawl. The most visited site in the engine room is the service side of the main and the Racor's across on the stbd bulkhead. That access is a simple drop thru the hatch in the salon near the galley. The next most visited site is the gen/wing hatch near the salon door. Open a single hatch and you are in. The last is thru the engine room door in the master stateroom. Here is where we look at the Racor vacuum gauges on engine room checks, for any water from where ever (there never has been) and to shoot the main expansion tank with the temp gun. Also the watermaker controls and filters are here. The fuel tank valves are accessed thru the salon hatch under the Racors and thru the engine room door to the right.

After all this work we needed a vacation so we went to the Florida Keys fishing with my buddy and left MS to her holiday shopping and visiting and, and........... It was nice to be in the Keys again and to see things haven't really changed that much during these past years. The fish are still there and we kept two and released about a jillion. The bird life has changed a bit with more roseate spoonbills and more giant white pelicans than before. We can't wait to take our yachtie friends from Sweden out in the flats boat to see all this. It is Very different than Sweden and other places we know they visited in their travels. In the small world department, Lindisfarn (their boat) is docked within sight of Paige's, (from N55 New Paige), school on Salt Spring Island, British Columbia. They have already gotten together. Lindisfarn met NP here and there in their travels in the South Pacific and New Zealand.

OK, here's the latest VofE deal. While Egret was Out and about these past years, MS and I were relatively insulated from the VofE public. VofE has always been about you and not ourselves personally. We simply used ourselves as an example as what You can do. The information we gave was accurate including cruising destinations, time at sea and at sea conditions, techno along with a bit of inspiration.

So let's get to the bottom line. To keep a lower profile we are going to wind back VofE to a more occasional posting during this coming year because Egret will be local to the Bahamas and the U.S. east coast. These areas are awash in excellent cruising information and cruising blogs. I don't believe Egret can contribute more than these folks, particularly the folks with wide eyed enthusiasm of their first visits to here and there. However, Jenny Stern at PAE has asked we keep the photos flowing so we will include a flood with each posting. Starting mid December, Mary and I will be in New Zealand for 3 months. Because South Island, New Zealand was one of our favorite cruising destinations we will send some postings from NZ to keep folks focused. Within a few weeks after returning, Egret will be in the Bahamas for a couple - three months then will head somewhere north for the summer and who knows where for the next winter. It may be a return to NZ or another full winter spend in the Bahamas as we did the first two years aboard Egret. Excellent cruising blogs like the one we mentioned above (Emily Grace) and others like Grey Pearl - http://www.greypearl.talkspot.com - (Tina just sent a new posting), m/v Star and the others Out and about can keep the long distance information flowing. Another excellent source of information is from our Swedish sailing friends, Bjorn and Annika at http://www.sailaround.info Annika's blog (in English and Swedish) is not as wordy as Egret's but if you go to Route Info then click on Album-Photo you can follow their world travels in excellent photography with captions. Bjorn and Annika cruise more like Mary and I than any cruising couple we met.

However, for the following year (2013) we are in the planning stages of another Grand Adventure. So here is what I suggest. On the N.com site there are two places to sign up for VofE alerts so any posting we send will go directly to you as well as being posted on the VofE site. The following year, if this Grand Adventure comes to pass (and I believe it will - the insurance hurdle is behind us) you Will want to follow. It will be exciting and a bit different.

We'll leave you with a few memories. This November we have Admirals and a Boat Kid. A year ago November Egret was in Richards Bay, South Africa living among the critters. And November the year before that, Egret was in South Island, New Zealand attending a local fair with the fairest of them all. Later we saw a crop duster doing his deal. And November before that Egret was in North Island, New Zealand. And before that, Chile. And before that, Argentina. And before that, Turkey. And before that, Spain. And the previous two years, Bahamas. And before that, Ft Lauderdale. Pretty amazing isn't it? And the best part? You can do it as well.

So, mis amigos, the VofE crutch is slowing down for the time being. VofE can't do any more than we have these past years. Now it is time to use Your Imagination, develop your own inspiration and plan for when its Your Time. We can only wish the best for you. In the meantime, Egret will still be shaking salt on her own Personal Voyage of Discovery. Ciao.